The Great Recession was the economic event that shaped the Millennials' prospects just as they were ready to enter the job market. They stayed at home, went back to school, took advantage of the gig economy and eventually trickled into the workforce. At first, there was a lot of interest in catering to these novel consumers and fresh new workers. Brands wanted to sell to them and companies wanted to hire them.Then, when they were just about to embark on their adult life (albeit later than the previous generations), the Millennial bashing began. Their public digital lives and willingness to share their opinion came back to bite them. They were pegged as late-blooming, lazy, entitled spendthrifts who spent most of their time socializing and skirting responsibility.

The lean approach to startups, innovation and product development is all the rage - and for good reason. There are many benefits to the lean approach, including quicker time to market, reduced development costs, more innovative products and improved customer relationships. However, companies outside the web/digital space can struggle executing on some of the principles of lean development, and even technology companies need a clear vision and strategy, along with processes for collecting and analyzing feedback, to embrace lean principles. Market research can bridge those gaps!

Murphy Research has a long history conducting research around the globe - across a range of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. We know what it takes to convert global business questions into actionable insights. For global research to succeed, particularly when delivering insights across cultures, it is important to maintain consistency while also accommodating unique market dynamics.

It's back-to-school season! Have you done your homework to determine if your brand tracker is making the grade? The benchmark wave of a brand tracker inspires a lot of enthusiasm and engagement among research, marketing, and product teams. But after a few waves, it's easy to put a tracker on auto-pilot.

We like to think of ourselves as rational beings that make careful and logical decisions. When asked about what we look for in say, a new pair of jeans, most of us will mention attributes such as "affordable", "high quality", and "flattering". Few will say that they want a pair of jeans that gives them a feeling of power, excites them, or instills a sense of belonging. Does this mean that emotions don't matter?

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Every savvy marketer knows that all shoppers are not created equal. It can be easy to get caught up in the latest buzz or stuck in age-old assumptions - e.g. shoppers demand personalization; consumers always love promotions; if it's organic, it will sell! - but marketers quickly learn if they spread their brand and their resources too thin, their message will get lost and they'll lose customers along the way.It's time for marketers to get back to the basics and know your shoppers.

As market researchers, we're keenly aware that sometimes there's a gap between what people say and what they do, between aspiration and behavior. That's not because people lie or deliberately mislead (although occasionally they do). Rather, it's often because everyday behaviors and assumptions are so routine and deep-seated they fade into the background of our lives. The implicit and taken-for-granted can be hard to notice, recall, and describe. And yet, some of the deepest insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors lie in those unconscious routines and tacit assumptions. So how do we see the invisible and hear the unspoken?

LeBron James making his move to LA has been one of the most talked-about decisions in the sports world. His four-year, $154 million contract ($38,500,000 a year) will make him the highest paid NBA player ever. There's a new legend in town, but one thing that really separates King James from former Lakers greats is the heavy economic opportunity he has brought to each of the cities in which he's played. The study of this has been dubbed "LeConomics," and big brands and local establishments alike need to understand the impact of this economic force.

The proliferation of smartphone apps, wearable trackers, smart clothes and other health tech has given us access to more information about our fitness and nutrition than ever before. But does collecting all this data make us any healthier?

What is AR? AR, meaning Augmented Reality, is an emerging technology that blends the physical world with elements of computer generated imagery and/or animation. A great example of this is the facial filters that Snapchat offers.

The lean approach to startups, innovation and product development is all the rage - and for good reason. There are many benefits to the lean approach, including quicker time to market, reduced development costs, more innovative products and improved customer relationships. However, companies outside the web/digital space can struggle executing on some of the principles of lean development, and even technology companies need a clear vision and strategy, along with processes for collecting and analyzing feedback, to embrace lean principles. Market research can bridge those gaps!